City of Ryde masters consultations through authentic, ongoing dialogue

See how councils have created ongoing dialogues and public engagement across the entire lifecycle of projects, from inception through to delivery.

Going beyond just ‘online consultations’

Rather than engaging with residents during the consultative phase of projects, City of Ryde aspired to create an ongoing dialogue and engagement across the entire lifecycle of projects, from inception through to delivery.

The “Have My Say” section provides residents with a beautiful and simple way to see what’s happening across council using real world concepts such as Let’s Talk, Let’s Explore, Let’s Celebrate, etc.

Integration with Council’s document and record management system makes it easy for files to be shared from internal systems and attached to a project or consultation, and then automatically updated to reflect any internal changes.

Creating an ongoing dialogue

A major focus for City of Ryde was to establish an ongoing dialogue with its community around the broad range of projects, consultations and initiatives happening at the council.

Rather than just focusing on engaging at the consultation stage, the project tracker allowed residents to easily discover and stay up to date with projects across their entire lifecycle, from early stages through to completion.

Recognising that many residents took higher interest in projects happening in their area, the Let’s Explore section provides people with a localised view of capital works, major projects, “Have My Say” feedback and other online consultations.

Further details about the project such as Important Date, Photos, even Distance and Travel Time from their location is visible by clicking a pin on the map.

Making it local makes it relevant

Yarra Ranges Shire setup a simple consultations capability that supports closed and open consultations, and captures subscriber details to help council build up a database of participants.

City of Monash setup an online consultations capability that empowers council to easily run open and closed consultations with moderated discussion spaces. Information tiles, ranging from sign-posted timelines through to image galleries help council improve engagement around consultations.